“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17, ESV)
God is consistent. He is good. He is gracious. He blesses and curses depending on the faith of the individual. His law is written down and does not change with the fads or moods of people. What God expects is predictable: obedience to His will and a commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In ancient Greece, it was believed that the gods were fickle. If they wanted to, they could kill you, promote you, or bless you on a whim. It was believed that the gods competed with each other, had favorites, and hurt people just to see what they would do. That is not the character of our God in Christ!
Today’s scripture confirms this view of God. James 1:17 explains that “every good gift and every perfect gift” comes from God above. The character of God is consistent. God is fair and just and righteous. With God, “there is no variation or shadow due to change”.
In sinful churches and among sinful people, there is a belief that God changes with the times. They preach that in ancient times there were only two genders while in modern times, there are obviously many genders. They teach that in New Testament times, people were so patriarchal that they believed only in marriage between a man and woman. They add that modern times are more cultured and wiser. They promote a God who now accepts marriages between a man and a man, a man and a child, a woman and a woman, three people, four people, or “in whatever committed relationship you choose”. It’s all sin. These people and churches believe in a god who changes with modern times, a god who agrees with modern ideologies and promotes worldly beliefs. They refuse to believe in absolute truth or a God “with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
What sinful churches and sinful people do not realize is that modern ideologies and philosophies have NOT come from God. Modern political systems and financial incentives are driven by worldly notions and fickle justifications. Modern notions such as feminism, gender fluidity, and the perfect AI are all just sinful adaptations to worldly thinking. God knows what is good. The world does not. While God would have people living in holy love, the world promotes promiscuity and sexual preference. God promotes commandments based on things such as “Do not kill”, “Do not steal”, and “Do not commit adultery”. The world says, “What goes on behind closed doors is your business”, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, “stealing for selfish reasons is justified”, and “the murder of fascists is morally sound”. God promotes the truth while the world promotes lies. God wants to bless people. The world wants to own them.
It amazes me that people would rather be worldly than godly. They would rather wallow in their sinful ways, choose pleasure over justice, and promote selfish standards instead of loving principles. Take for example one bit of history from the Southern United States. For more than two centuries, many schools in the south displayed the Ten Commandments from the Bible in classrooms. During the Twentieth Century, this was deemed unlawful. By removing the Ten Commandments, they effectively took God and God’s law out of schools. But what did many schools replace the Ten Commandments with? You can now find Pride flags, Sharia (Islamic) laws, and Diversity classes in schools in the south. They got rid of obedience to God and now promote obedience to modern ideologies. Is it no surprise we now have school shootings, hundreds of teachers arrested for sexual exploitation and rape, metal detectors at entrances to schools, and hundreds of thousands of kids who can’t read at basic grade levels? Schools are teaching gender fluidity while youth never learn that murder and stealing and adultery and lying are morally wrong.
You have the choice today to choose whether to follow the world or to follow God. If you follow the world, there will be no absolute truth or absolute lie, there will be no commandments, and your god will be humanism or modern ideologies. If you choose God, right and wrong will be determined by the God who created you, the Lord who redeemed your soul, the Heavenly Father of lights who knows what is best for you.
Will you be dedicated to God or tempted by worldly pleasures? Will you choose to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ or follow the teachings of Marx and the murderous ways of Communism and Socialism? God is predictable. God’s law is eternal. God’s commandments do not change. God is the author of what is good and holy and best for you. Why would you follow any other voice? Whose voice has held sway in your head lately?
A PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father of Lights! I pray to You this day. You have given me the choice to follow Your will or the will of another. I choose Your will! I promise to follow Your voice! I refuse to submit to worldly pleasures and temptations!
In the past, I have been swayed by many voices. At times, I fell victim to manipulation. I was moved by temporary emotions or selfish reasoning. I did what I thought was best for me without even consulting You! I was deceived. You know what is best for me. Your truth is THE truth. Your gospel is full of saving grace. Joy and peace are found nowhere else!
There were moments I was put to the test and found wanting! What I thought was good was bad. What I thought was wise was foolish. I considered myself smart. Instead, I was worldly. Tempted by lies and false promises, I gave in. I sinned. I failed miserably. Forgive my faulty human reasoning and mistaken assumptions. I should have trusted in Your word. I should have known Your will was best for me. I was lost and didn’t know it. Thankfully, You reached out to me! You made sure I learned the truth. You knew I must repent in order to find forgiveness and grace. Repentance brought me back to You.
Today, I commit my life to You again. I will listen for Your voice and follow Your laws. In Christ Jesus, I have been saved. In Him, I trust. Amen.